Resolved Why just a single backup with OS X/ MacOS.

[ignatius345]

I have backups! Just not practical, automated solutions that I'd rather have. Those are in the works.

Gotcha, sorry to pounce. You see so many posts on here with people freaking out trying to recover stuff off a drive or a computer that died.

Backing up laptops is definitely more annoying that desktops where you can just plug in a drive and forget about it.

 

[Fishrrman]

Three backups work for me.

First is created with CarbonCopyCloner and kept close-at-hand on my desk.

Second is an "off-site" backup (also a CCC clone), kept in the car.

Third is another CCC clone kept in a fire-resistant box in the basement.

Having an off-site backup of some kind can be important to protect against disasters at home...

 

[Alpha Centauri]

>Gotcha, sorry to pounce. You see so many posts on here with people freaking out trying to recover stuff off a drive or a computer that died.<

No worries. So whilst I haven't lost data since 2006, I am definitely more acutely aware of this occurring if my M2 logic board goes belly up. My old 5,3 (typing on this now) is currently on it's 2nd SSD and I still have the original HDD with SL on it. I even still have the first SSD (believe it was a Crucial branded m4) that no longer mounts. Then I recently had issues with a EVO 870 I wanted to use as an additional drive in the 5,3. Let's just say that I've also learned not to be entirely dependent on SSDs that give little to no forewarning of failure.

Backing up laptops is definitely more annoying that desktops where you can just plug in a drive and forget about it.

Definitely more difficult without a desk environment. The options are plugging DAS drives religiously into the M2 every night for SD and TM backups OR purchasing a NAS for TM over WiFi for much bigger $$. Many pros and cons, and that's the bit I'm trying to decide on, that I mentioned as being "in the works".

Decisions decisions. 🤯🤔

 

[ignatius345]

Definitely more difficult without a desk environment. The options are plugging DAS drives religiously into the M2 every night for SD and TM backups OR purchasing a NAS for TM over WiFi for much bigger $$. Many pros and cons, and that's the bit I'm trying to decide on, that I mentioned as being "in the works".

I'm using my MacBook as sort of a "satellite" to my main iMac. Anything of any importance on the MacBook is synced via iCloud over to the iMac, where it gets backed up to a Time Machine drive daily and an offsite drive monthly. Important to note, the iMac has iCloud Drive not set to Optimize Storage, so it downloads everything -- that means I have to maintain a lot of storage, but it's worth it to know I have every file I own fully downloaded and backed up.

I back up the MacBook every week or two just to make it easier to restore a new one if it gets lost or broken, but at any given point in time I've got all the important stuff covered.

I suppose one *could* just stuff a Mac Mini into a closet somewhere to replicate something like this, but probably not the most efficient use of resources.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

I'm using my MacBook as sort of a "satellite" to my main iMac. Anything of any importance on the MacBook is synced via iCloud over to the iMac, where it gets backed up to a Time Machine drive daily and an offsite drive monthly. Important to note, the iMac has iCloud Drive not set to Optimize Storage, so it downloads everything -- that means I have to maintain a lot of storage, but it's worth it to know I have every file I own fully downloaded and backed up.

I back up the MacBook every week or two just to make it easier to restore a new one if it gets lost or broken, but at any given point in time I've got all the important stuff covered.

I suppose one *could* just stuff a Mac Mini into a closet somewhere to replicate something like this, but probably not the most efficient use of resources.

An interesting approach indeed. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Three backups work for me.

First is created with CarbonCopyCloner and kept close-at-hand on my desk.

Second is an "off-site" backup (also a CCC clone), kept in the car.

Third is another CCC clone kept in a fire-resistant box in the basement.

Having an off-site backup of some kind can be important to protect against disasters at home...

Curious. How come you don't at all use TM?

 

[HDFan]

How come you don't at all use TM?

In my case have lost too many TM backups. Only allow 1 in my 3-2-1 backup strategy.

 

[Fishrrman]

"How come you don't at all use TM?"

I prefer clones that are bootable.
And yes, I do boot from the backups from time to time, to do things that I couldn't do when booted from the internal drive.

One other thing:
I have seen many many reports over the years in this forum from folks who thought they were protected by time machine, and then -- in a moment of need -- tried to access their tm backups, and ... couldn't.

I have seen very few reports from folks who had a cloned backup fail on them.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

"How come you don't at all use TM?"

One other thing:
I have seen many many reports over the years in this forum from folks who thought they were protected by time machine, and then -- in a moment of need -- tried to access their tm backups, and ... couldn't.

I have seen very few reports from folks who had a cloned backup fail on them.

I think I've used Super Duper since SL and repurchase it when I bought the M2 earlier this year.

Do you recall if those posts had a particular point of failure or common thread when TM backups couldn't be accessed? I did read about issues when used in combination of Synology NAS, WiFi and spares bundles.

Edit: I mentioned the above as that was the hardware I initially thought to use. Besides concerns of TM over WiFi, my master Linksys Velpo node inexplicably drops connection once or twice per month.

 

[jz0309]

I think I've used Super Duper since SL and repurchase it when I bought the M2 earlier this year.

Do you recall if those posts had a particular point of failure or common thread when TM backups couldn't be accessed? I did read about issues when used in combination of Synology NAS, WiFi and spares bundles.

Edit: I mentioned the above as that was the hardware I initially thought to use. Besides concerns of TM over WiFi, my master Linksys Velpo node inexplicably drops connection once or twice per month.

the one time I needed to restore my data, TM didn't do the job for me, I've been using CCC ever since. I've used CCC to transfer my data when I setup my Mac Studio last year (vs copying from my iMac which I still had at the time).

My aperture library crashed on me, couldn't restore, tried for a couple weeks, nothing. I was able to extract my originals thankfully (that was a painful process) but all my edits, keywords etc - gone, this was ~60-70k photos at the time. There's a thread on this experience form me here on MR somewhere.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

>the one time I needed to restore my data, TM didn't do the job for me, I've been using CCC ever since. I've used CCC to transfer my data when I setup my Mac Studio last year (vs copying from my iMac which I still had at the time).<

Interesting. Seem to remember briefly flirting with TM 10yrs with DAS. I didn't have any data loss but do remember there was an issue accessing the immediate TM timelines, can't recall the details but I think I wasn't able to click on any snapshot dates? Going forward I had hopes that any issues were long ironed out and streamlined. You couldn't access the TM drive at all or just no recent backups?

My aperture library crashed on me, couldn't restore, tried for a couple weeks, nothing. I was able to extract my originals thankfully (that was a painful process) but all my edits, keywords etc - gone, this was ~60-70k photos at the time. There's a thread on this experience form me here on MR somewhere.

Good grief..nightmare. You know, I had a similar story with a managed Aperture/ iPhoto library and it took very long to locate the RAWS and original jpeg's that were blasted all over the HDD. Afterwards I went with Capture1 but off course my hardware was just too old. So now I've got an M2 and most recent version of Capture1. But this time decided on a referenced library with RAWS, with automation to output to the Photos App. I do like the fun features like Memories so those are managed. Losing all edits and keywording is just tragic.

 

[jz0309]

Interesting. Seem to remember briefly flirting with TM 10yrs with DAS. I didn't have any data loss but do remember there was an issue accessing the immediate TM timelines, can't recall the details but I think I wasn't able to click on any snapshot dates? Going forward I had hopes that any issues were long ironed out and streamlined. You couldn't access the TM drive at all or just no recent backups?



Good grief..nightmare. You know, I had a similar story with a managed Aperture/ iPhoto library and it took very long to locate the RAWS and original jpeg's that were blasted all over the HDD. Afterwards I went with Capture1 but off course my hardware was just too old. So now I've got an M2 and most recent version of Capture1. But this time decided on a referenced library with RAWS, with automation to output to the Photos App. I do like the fun features like Memories so those are managed. Losing all edits and keywording is just tragic.

Yea, my Aperture library was managed, bad choice in hindsight … now I have a simple folder structure (primarily year/month) and I use LRC, and while subscription, it’s worth it for me. I have photos going back to the late 1800s.
Not touching Photos the app on my Mac, it sucks, for me. And the photos I take on my iPhone, I copy them to the Max so that I have everything in LR.
And as I mentioned, I copied the photos as well as the index/catalogue from my iMac to my studio, so I feel comfortable now being able to restore my data, plus I have 4 backups